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GVI Now Open

Updated: 3/29/2012

The new Gates Vascular Institute, located adjacent to the Buffalo General Medical Center, is officially open.

The Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) is a combination of the finest researchers, surgeons, physicians, and other clinicians devoted to the study, treatment, and prevention of cardiac, stroke, and vascular diseases.

These clinicians are uniquely positioned to provide patient care in a way never before seen in Western New York. Instead of the traditional “silo approach” to practicing medicine, physicians will work side by side with their colleagues and researchers in these three disciplines to deliver state-of-the-art care and produce major breakthroughs on the causes and treatments of cardiac, stroke and vascular disease.

“This physician-led plan will revolutionize health care in our community,” said James R. Kaskie, the president and CEO of Kaleida Health. “This is an historic achievement for our organization and for all of Western New York. We have taken what we have, which is very good, and we are making it better for those we serve.”

Kaskie added, “Cardiac, stroke and vascular care from two separate sites will now be under one roof. We have created the largest, most modern and digital emergency department around, complete with a new helipad. And we are leveraging the space and infrastructure at Buffalo General to create a more modern medical center for complex services. In essence, we’re building a healthier future through a collision of talent and knowledge; bringing the brightest medical minds together on behalf of the patients of Western New York.”

Several years ago, pioneering neurosurgeon L. Nelson Hopkins, III, M.D., had an idea – to build a medical facility where researchers and physicians worked collaboratively to conduct research as well as diagnose and treat patients. That idea is now a reality with the merger of Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore Gates Circle hospitals and the opening of the new Gates Vascular Institute.

“We can vet ideas, do market research, handle intellectual property issues and have people who can help guide new tests and treatments through the FDA process,” said Dr. Hopkins. “In this area, neurovascular, there is nothing in the world that is being done that we are not pre-eminent in. Physicians collaborating with scientists can lead to very big things. Out of this, new ideas will come. And that will lead to new and improved products, treatments, and devices -- and to jobs in Western New York."

The new facility will be Western New York’s hub for stroke care, cardiac surgery and vascular services. The combined facility will bring together Kaleida Health physicians and University at Buffalo (UB) researchers in a collaborative effort to deliver state-of-the-art clinical care, produce major breakthroughs on the causes and treatment of vascular disease and spin-off new biotechnology businesses and jobs.

“The Gates Vascular Institute is a community effort to transform healthcare regionally and potentially across the country through technology and system design,” said cardiologist Robert Gatewood, M.D., “Its mission is to provide world class heart, brain and vascular care for all of Western New York, and beyond. It is designed to attract the best physicians, scientists, nurses and allied heath professionals dedicated to high quality and compassionate care while providing new and less invasive treatments for vascular disease. It will be an exciting resource for our regional physicians and their patients. The Gates Vascular is destined to become one of Buffalo’s gems.”

In addition to housing Kaleida Health’s $173 million merger of its cardiac, stroke and vascular operations, plus a new and expanded emergency department, the building will also house research and development facilities, including UB’s $118 million Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) and a UB Biosciences Incubator.

“We are about to put Buffalo, New York, on the map by being the largest multi-specialty minimally invasive center in the world,” said Sonya Noor, M.D., a vascular surgeon who will operate in the Gates Vascular Institute. “We are able to offer complete vascular care from head to toe, all in one place. And that is at the all new Gates Vascular Institute.”

The Gates Vascular Institute features four floors that are dedicated to the surgical and interventional management of cardiac, vascular and neurological conditions, as well as a 16-bed highly specialized intensive care unit, and a 62-bed short-stay suite.

The combined buildings of the Gates Vascular Institute and Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC), will house 548 inpatient beds, 30 operating rooms, 17 interventional labs, four CT scanners and four MRIs.

The new Buffalo General Medical Center emergency department (ED), which opened in November of 2011 and is located on the ground floor of the Gates Vascular Institute building, is the largest in Western New York and can accommodate more than 60,000 patient visits. In addition to medical ground transportation to the emergency department, Buffalo General can now accommodate patients with life threatening emergencies via medial helicopter, with 24/7 immediate access to an intervention or surgery.